Wednesday, 23 March 2016

EASTER BUNNY SPRINGS INTO ACTION AT NATIONAL TRUST

The Easter Bunny has kicked off his 2016 schedule in style, with the National Trust unveiling a show-stopping giant topiary bunny at Stourhead, in Wiltshire.

The topiary bunny has been created to celebrate the ninth year of the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts. The hunts will be taking place at 271 National Trust locations over the Easter weekend (25-28 March). Families are invited to unleash their inner explorer at these adventurous hunts taking place across the country.

Stourhead, known to many as the location of the 2005 film version of Pride and Prejudice, played host to the Cadbury Easter Bunny’s first destination this year, as he begins his nationwide tour to generate excitement ahead of the upcoming Easter Bank Holiday weekend.

The iconic gardens and Palladian mansion, given to the conservation charity in 1946, is just one of the locations providing a beautiful backdrop for an Easter day out. An impressive 271 Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts are set to take families on adventures in and around National Trust places across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, marking the ninth year of the Trust’s partnership with the iconic chocolate-makers.

At a towering height of 8ft, the frame of the impressive topiary bunny, celebrating the Cadbury Easter Bunny’s visit, took a whopping three days to create. If laid flat, the length of the steel wire used for this creation would be that of two football pitches! His accompanying 4ft friends used the combined talents of a team of four over a five day period, using enough wire to cover the length of a further five football pitches in the process.

Hoping to delight children and families alike this Bank Holiday Weekend, the smaller topiary bunnies will be on display at Wimpole, Stowe, Killerton, Castle Ward, Fountains Abbey, Hardwick Hall and Tredegar House.

The Easter bunny has been very busy indeed, delivering an impressive 362,592 Cadbury Dairy Milk Bunnies around the UK.

Visitors to National Trust places across the Easter holiday weekend will be able to take part in special Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts, with every child receiving a Cadbury chocolate treat for getting involved.

Laura Appleby, Senior PR Officer at the National Trust, said: “The Easter Bunny certainly has been busy this year, with Stourhead the first of many stops across the country.

“We are thrilled to partner with Cadbury to offer families the chance to celebrate Easter together, take on an Easter Egg Hunt and explore some of the special places cared for by

the Trust. Visits over the Easter period are so important to us, as they will help enable our continued conservation work.”

Martin Clements, Engagement & Interpretation Officer at Stourhead, added: “We’re really excited that the Easter Bunny started off his journey at Stourhead, and are thrilled to play home to his 8ft topiary replica in our gardens. We hope visitors and families participating in our Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts this weekend enjoy trying to spot our giant topiary bunny – he loves posing for the camera!”

With over 270,000 people getting involved in a Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt last year, and over 3 million people welcomed to participating National Trust places over the Easter weekend, the charity is hoping for another great turnout.